I'm a research officer in cognitive science and AI. I work at the London School of Economics and Political Science, on Alexandria Boyle's UKRI Future Leaders grant project, 'Episodic Memory: Uniquely Human?'. Much of past work concerns episodic memory. Is it a distinct natural kind? How do we test for it in animals and AI systems? What is its proper function(s)? 

Recently, much of my time is spent thinking about AI. One project in progress aims to design virtual versions of classic episodic memory tests. Our goal is to use the test performance of artificial agents to clarify the computational strategies required for passing such tests. Recently, I've also been interested in whether current AI models provide mechanistic explanations of the brain. I have work in progress that aims to address that question by evaluating some influential AI models of visual object recognition.

Before moving to London, I worked in Israel through the, "Excellence Fellowship for International Postdoctoral Researchers" (2022-2023). I was based in department of Brian and Cognitive Sciences at Ben-Gurion University, where I collaborated with Nir Fresco. Before Israel, I studied philosophy at UC Davis (Ph.D. under Zoe Drayson, 2022), San Francisco State University (M.A., 2013), and McGill University (B.A., 2011). I grew up in San Anselmo, California, pretty close to where the landscape photo above was taken (Bolinas Ridge Trail, 2022).

 For more info about me or my work, please reach out by email: a.g.schwartz@lse.ac.uk